The statue was way above her head, staring far away into the distance. Clarke was looking up at it, she couldn't help but wonder what this place had looked like a hundred years ago, before the bombs ruined everything. Abraham Lincoln. She had learned enough about old Earth history to know who he was. Clarke realized she was looking at the statue of a man who had given birth to a nation that would thrive in the centuries that followed, but whose descendants had eventually destroyed the world. He now seemed to be watching over the generation that inherited the ruins they were left with, to make sure they would thrive once again. Clarke had to admit to herself that thriving was exactly what they had done. Scattered clans, fending for themselves all over the place, now united as one massive tribe with countless brave and strong warriors to protect them from any harm that would come their way, under the leadership of the young woman who had brought them together and had given up her own needs entirely, just so her people could have theirs.
Clarke swallowed at the thought of Lexa, she quickly tried to force her image out of her head. She had no time to be affected by the memories right now, she had other stuff to worry about. Like the fact that she was about to walk into a Grounder village and had no idea what kind of welcome to expect. She had doubted herself many times on the way here, feared that this might not have been the best idea she had ever had. This was still Grounder territory and Grounders didn't like outsiders, something Clarke most definitely was. Still, all her doubts hadn't been enough to change her mind. Somehow she knew this was what she had to do, she knew it in her gut. Her gut was still her number one guide and it was telling her to go in, so that's what she was going to do.
Watching the statue again, she wondered if perhaps Lincoln was named after him. Named after their guardian, yet now he was cast out. He was with her people, back at the Ark, no longer welcome here for choosing to listen to his heart, for wanting to be with the woman he had fallen in love with and for wanting to do right by Clarke's people. Clarke was grateful to him and felt for him at the same time. She knew how much he had given up.
She straightened her back and looked up at the gazing eyes of the stone man high above her. "Keep an eye on me while you're at it, yeah?" Abraham Lincoln kept staring into the distance like he always had. "I'll take that as a yes." she decided. Determined, she continued her walk towards Tondc.
She made sure to stay alert for any kind of movement or sound, very aware of the fact that even though to Grounders she may be Clarke, leader of the Skaikru, she was still an outsider. For all they knew she was there to settle some score after being left at the gates of the mountain. Even though Clarke had no hostile intentions, the Grounders had no reason to believe that. She expected to be met with a decent amount of distrust and paranoia and she couldn't even blame them. Her gun and knife were on her belt but Clarke had no intentions of drawing them because it would make her seem even more like a threat and that was the last thing she wanted. She was really hoping that they wouldn't shoot first and ask questions later.
"Don't let me down, Mister Lincoln." she murmured.
Now that she was slowly approaching the town, she found herself wishing someone would show up already. She knew that someone would before she would even be near the town entrance and the uncertainty of not knowing what came next was making her slightly apprehensive. It turned out she didn't have to wait very long.
"Stop!" A deep, male voice loudly commanded. Clarke immediately stood still and watched two Grounders step onto the road in front of her. One of them had an arrow trained at her and the other had drawn his sword. They both looked like they meant business.
Clarke swallowed her doubts away as she raised her hands in the air, trying to appear as non threatening as she could. Here we go then.
"Ai laik Clarke kom Skaikru," she spoke, trying to sound as confident as she could, "I come in peace."
The Grounders eyed her up and down suspiciously, neither of them lowering their weapon yet. The one with the sword took a step towards her. Clarke was appropriately intimidated but stood her ground.
"What do you want?" he demanded.
"I have no hostile intent, I wish to speak with your leader." Clarke hesitated for a moment. "With Indra." she added quickly, silently hoping their reaction to Indra's name would somehow reveal to her if Lexa was here or not, but she wasn't really counting on it. Clarke hadn't lowered her arms yet and she made sure to keep them raised when she saw the both of them looking at the gun on her belt.
The one with the bow spoke up. "What does Clarke of the Skaikru want from Indra?"
Clarke swallowed and mustered up some courage. "That is between me and her." she said with determination in her voice. She wasn't about to explain to these two why she was here. First of all, it was none of their business, second, they'd still be standing here tomorrow talking about it, most likely. She still wasn't sure how she was going to convince Indra to let her stay either. She realized that even though the woman was probably one of the least likely people to welcome her with open arms, she also knew that there was no way she would be able to be in that village without the permission of its leader so she had accepted that talking to Indra was her only option. Clarke vividly remembered the hostility she had shown towards them from the start, but Clarke knew there was another side of her too, the one that saw the potential in a young Skygirl and took her as her second and offered Lincoln the choice to stay or leave. That was the side of her that Clarke was hoping to reach.
It took another tense moment before the one with the sword seemed to make a decision and nodded at her. "Come." he said. The other one finally lowered his bow and Clarke released the breath she had been holding in. She lowered her hands and started following him towards the town. The Grounder with the bow waited for her to pass him and started walking behind her. She could feel their paranoia and she knew she had her work cut out for her, but she figured that at least not being shot on sight could be considered a good start.
It only took them a few minutes to reach the town and Clarke felt a certain sense of familiarity when she spotted the walls in the distance. She had spent quite some time here, after all. She also felt a decent amount of guilt, knowing she could have spared them from the destruction of the missile attack. She wondered what the town looked like by now. The last time she saw it, it had been completely in ruins and there were even some fires still burning. It had only been a few days, so she was expecting to see a lot of debris that was still being cleared, perhaps the beginnings of new structures being built. She had no idea how fast Grounders would bounce back from something like this, but she couldn't help but suspect that it would be quite fast. She knew they were resilient.
They had reached the entrance. She still didn't know if she would soon be facing Lexa or not, but she was in it now, she'd have to deal with it. Somehow. The Grounder who had been walking in front of her had sheathed his sword and stopped right outside the gate where he turned around to face her. Clarke knew what came next, there was no way they were going to let her in there carrying any kind of weapon. Before he could point at the crate near the entrance or even say anything, she had already walked towards it, took her knife out of her belt and dropped it into the crate.
"I know, no weapons." she said. She took her gun out next, making sure to do it slowly and placed it next to the knife. She turned back towards the Grounder.
"That's all I have."
The Grounder stepped towards her and searched her anyway, Clarke offered no resistance, she knew he had to be sure. After he had confirmed she was indeed no longer carrying any weapons, he nodded towards the entrance and walked inside. Clarke followed, her demeanor showing more confidence than she was actually feeling.
The Grounder that had been walking behind her had gone on ahead, most likely to inform Indra of Clarke's arrival. Or Lexa. Not knowing for sure if she would be face to face with Lexa any minute now had Clarke slightly rattled, yet there was nothing she could do about it now. She'd just have to deal with it if that happened. As they passed through the village, Clarke looked around, taking in the aftermath of the devastation. There was still so much rubble, but she was impressed by what had already been removed. The huge crater in the center of town had been partially cleared of the remnants of the building that once stood in its place and numerous people were working as one to clear what still remained, most likely also in search of loved ones they hadn't been able to find yet. As Clarke passed the scene, she saw most of their heads turn in her direction, she could feel every single pair of eyes burning on her skin wondering what on earth she could be doing here. She pushed her guilt to the back of her head and kept walking, realizing this was much harder than she had anticipated.
They finally stopped in front of a building, Clarke turned towards the Grounder, expecting him to either tell her to go in or to wait, but instead he just stood there and said nothing. Clarke silently did the same and waited awkwardly for whatever came next. She was fighting the temptation to ask if Lexa was here but even though the question was burning on her lips, she knew asking it would be a mistake. No matter how badly she wanted to know, she knew they would take it the wrong way, most likely interpreting it as a threat. Clarke didn't want Lexa to be there at all, but no Grounder would know her true reasons behind it. Clarke had no choice but to accept the unknown. As she tried to prepare herself for the very real possibility, she could feel the anticipation build up inside her and it was throwing her nerves into a wild spin. After a very long minute, the door finally opened, revealing the Grounder that had walked on ahead. He stepped outside and nodded at Clarke towards the door. "She will see you now." Still none the wiser, Clarke silently asked herself what the hell she had gotten herself into, then took a deep breath and stepped inside.